This invention relates to a connector assembly comprising two connectors mateable with each other.
For example, this type of connector assembly is disclosed in JP4190019B (Patent Document 1), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to FIG. 17, Patent Document 1 discloses a connector assembly 90 comprising a receptacle connector (first connector) 92 and a plug connector (second connector) 96 mateable with each other. The first connector 92 comprises a housing 920 and a receptacle contact (first contact) 930 held by the housing 920. The first contact 930 has a contact portion 932 and a contact-catching portion 934. The second connector 96 comprises a housing 960 and a plug contact (second contact) 970 held by the housing 960. The second contact 970 has a contact portion 972 and a contact-catching portion 974.
Referring to FIG. 18, when an end of the second connector 96 is deeply inserted into the first connector 92, the first connector 92 and the second connector 96 are mated with each other. Under this deeply-mated state, the contact portion 932 of the first contact 930 is brought into contact with the contact-catching portion 974 of the second contact 970, and the contact portion 972 of the second contact 970 is brought into contact with the contact-catching portion 934 of the first contact 930. As a result, the first connector 92 and the second connector 96 are electrically connected with each other.
Referring to FIG. 17, for example, the first connector 92 and the second connector 96 are mounted on two circuit boards (not shown), respectively, and are used to electrically connect the two circuit boards with each other. These two circuit boards are often installed in an electronic device (not shown). In this case, the end of the second connector 96 sometimes cannot be deeply inserted into the first connector 92 because of some reasons such as structural restriction of the electronic device. In other words, the first connector 92 and the second connector 96 are sometimes shallowly mated with each other. Referring to the contact portion 932 and the contact portion 972 illustrated in dashed line in FIG. 17, under the shallowly-mated state, the contact portion 932 and the contact portion 972 might be unable to be moved to the contact-catching portion 974 and the contact-catching portion 934, respectively. As a result, the electrical connection between the first connector 92 and the second connector 96 might not be made or might be unstably.